Sangreaal's Growout Form

[Sangreaal]

Originally Posted by PapaBear

I wanna borrow your eyeballs one of these days... You can spot hints from a picture (even someone else's pictures) and see whats hiding from the rest
I think your study of the scales is paying off for all of us, and those are great shots of the slight differences in the scales and how much it influences the way they capture and bend the light.
Pretty cool stuff

Thanks Larry. I'm thinking that with the breeders going for more and more lustrous skin, the pearl gin (or maybe we can call it extreme Jihada, since not all of the gin effects are round and not all of the scales are extremely convex) is going to be popping up more often. There are actually quite a few of our growout fish with different degrees of this phenomenon. Junichi has the most extreme, as far as I can tell, and I want to watch that fish closely as it matures.

I mentioned earlier that the growout fish have sharper striations in their scales than Bindi, but I'm thinking that's an immaturity thing as my pearls from Richard have the same degree of striations as our Utsuris. As the skin thickens, the striations on the scales should smoothe out.

I'm also wondering what this type of skin/scale combination will do to the sumi. I'm thinking it'll have a peacock lustre like Jumanji's if it's nice and thick, but only time will tell....

[Sangreaal]

Originally Posted by The Pond Digger

When I was flirt with my ladies yesterday I noticed a couple of special scales on one of the Showas I picked out to grow up with my SU's. Here is a photo I got of the fish before putting it in the grow out tank.



Notice in the Beni on the left side mid way back on the fish by the dorsal fin. If my memory serves me that is the area when some gin rin is coming out. Seems odd (to me) that there is only a few scales will that pop! Will more come or will what is there go away? Check out the interesting beni circle on the nose of the fish. I will make this fish my center of attention today during my flirting encounters, to gather you some more info for you. I will be interested in your scale analysis.

I know someone's having as much fun as I am.

The Pond Digger

Oh I'm having a blast here, Eric. But I can't even begin to tell you how many pictures I've had to take at every angle possible in as many different lighting situations as possible to get these pics. It just happened upon me a couple of nights ago when the QT light was off but my desk light was on. The gin effects just popped, and then I was really cooking with gas...

I can't tell much from your pic, other than that's one lovely Showa! (Just love that kuchibeni beak of her's, and that promise of more meandering sumi!) I see the gin specks, which speaks of lustre, and they seem to be in a row, but I don't see convex scales or even scale patterns. Any chance you can take some more pics, even if it's in the pond and not in a bowl, from every angle you can think of and with a flash? The flash is integral to bringing out the lights and shadows necessary to see what I want to see. Morning or evening or shaded light is the best. Full sun just washes everything out.

Pictures, pictures, pictures, my man. Take a gazillion of them....

[mstrseed]

Originally Posted by Sangreaal

Pictures, pictures, pictures, my man. Take a gazillion of them....

Yep, and I still got marginal results.........................but it was a long day. After they settle down I'll try again .

[PapaBear]

What you describe (a few scattered bits of gin) sounds like Matsunosuke Gin. Not true ginrin in the classic sense of the word, but rather an indication of the elements of high quality lustrous skin. Try to get some close-ups if you can and post on the main forum so we can play

Originally Posted by The Pond Digger

When I was flirt with my ladies yesterday I noticed a couple of special scales on one of the Showas I picked out to grow up with my SU's. Here is a photo I got of the fish before putting it in the grow out tank.



Notice in the Beni on the left side mid way back on the fish by the dorsal fin. If my memory serves me that is the area when some gin rin is coming out. Seems odd (to me) that there is only a few scales will that pop! Will more come or will what is there go away? Check out the interesting beni circle on the nose of the fish. I will make this fish my center of attention today during my flirting encounters, to gather you some more info for you. I will be interested in your scale analysis.

I know someone's having as much fun as I am.

The Pond Digger

[Sangreaal]

Originally Posted by mstrseed

Yep, and I still got marginal results.........................but it was a long day. After they settle down I'll try again .

The angle of light is a big deal when trying to capture this. Everything to do with gin/lustre is entirely dependent on the angle of the light source and the angle of your view AND the angle of the fish. It helps to be on the same side the light comes from so your flash doesn't wipe out what you know you see.......otherwise you're just clicking away, waiting for that lucky shot to come home to mama...or papa....

[Sangreaal]

Bindi's in the 150 gallon with the Yama now, so no more side by side pics with the growout group. However, with the lighting I have over the 150 I was able to get some pics of Bindi without the flash and they show her scalation shape very well though the color is slightly off--she's really not pink...




Thought these pics might help in the observation of other fish and their scale type in order to compare with what we have in this growout. I'll try to get a top view with ambient light and post it here too...

[Sangreaal]

Knew it would happen...those sumi squigglies I was wondering about earlier on Mikado absolutely meant Going going Gone....



When I get a better angle, I'll show you more of how this is progressing.

Mikado isn't the only one dramatically developing. The Little Blue is starting to show its pattern. Very subtle and really hard to catch with the camera, but I'll see what I can get today when it's light....

[The Pond Digger]

You sure make me long for a glass QT!

The Pond Digger

[Sangreaal]

Today's installment of the lifting of Mikado's mask...check out how much it's changed from yesterday's pic in my last post:


I really like the glass QTs for tosai, Eric. As long as the water quality can be maintained, it's the best for close and extended observation. Once they're out in the pond it's a whole different ball game....

[PapaBear]

I wouldn't be even the TINIEST bit concerned about it. Any shiro this size that doesn't see the sumi go down and up and down and up and down and up isn't living up tot the reputation of the breed... I'm counting on at LEAST a 5 year sumi/shiro roller coaster ride